Mike Hawthorn

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John Michael "Mike" Hawthorn (born 10 April 1929 in Mexborough, died 22 January 1959 in Guildford) was a British racing driver. Making a meteoric rise through the junior ranks in 1950 and 1951, he attempted to enter all races of the 1951 Formula One season, but was only accepted to the Indianapolis 500 (where he finished 20th), Great Britain and Italy, both times unsuccessful. Undeterred, and with more sportscar experience, he signed for Bentley in 1952 and remained there for two seasons, racing on and off, without any success.

When Juan Manuel Fangio was injured in the 1954 Syracuse Grand Prix, Hawthorn was hired by Jaguar-Aston Martin Racing as a temporary replacement, but failed to impress and was soon replaced by Dries van der Lof. Hawthorn instead moved to Loyer, where he failed to make an impact, then Vanwall where he finally scored his first points in the high-attrition 1955 French Grand Prix. Impressed by his resolve, B.C.M.A. signed him for 1956. While he wasn't as quick as teammates Tony Brooks or Peter Collins, he proved dependable but unreliable, failing to qualify in Silverstone after not setting a time. Nonetheless, he took advantage of high attrition to surprisingly win a close-fought Italian Grand Prix ahead of four O.S.C.A. works cars.

Retiring from motorsport after 1958 due to health reasons, Mike Hawthorn was killed in a road accident in January 1959 at the age of 29.

Complete Alternate Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Pts.
1951 Mike Hawthorn Alfa Romeo 158/50 Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s MON
DNA
BEL
DNA
FRA
DNA
GBR
DNQ
GER
DNA
NED
DNA
ITA
DNQ
NC 0
Kurtis Kraft 1000 Offenhauser 3.0 L4C 500
20
1952 British Bentley Racing Motors Bentley Speed 2 Bentley 3.0 V16 MON ENG BEL
22
FRA
DNQ
GBR
DNQ
GER NED ITA
DNQ
USA
Ret
AUS NC 0
1953 British Bentley Racing Motors Bentley Speed 3 Bentley 163-1 3.0 V16 MON NED
DNPQ
BEL
Ret
FRA GBR
DNPQ
GER SUI ITA USA NC 0
1954 Jaguar-Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin AM-04 Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12 MON
8
FRA
Ret
NC 0
Loyer Racing Loyer LR101 Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 BEL
DNQ
NED
DNQ
GBR SUI
Ret
GER
16
USA
Ret
ITA
Ret
1955 Vandervell Products Ltd Vanwall VW55 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 MON
DNPQ
FRA
4
BEL
13
GBR
DNQ
SCO
DNQ
SOV ITA
Ret
20th 3
1956 British Commonwealth Motorsport Association B.C.M.A. C-01 B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6 MON
Ret
FRA
7
BEL
Ret
GER
Ret
GDR IRL
Ret
SCO
Ret
GBR
DNQ
ITA
1
THA 11th 9
1957 British Commonwealth Motorsport Association B.C.M.A. RP.1001 B.C.M.A. A/AS Wyvern 2.5 L6 MAR
3
MON
3
FRA
Ret
BEL
Ret
NED
Ret
IRL
4
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
ESP
Ret
USA
Ret
11th 11

* denotes season still in progress